Excess coal dust found inside doomed West Virginia mine

Some
Massey miners, however, have said the company discouraged frequent rock
dusting, which distracted workers from what was supposed to be their
central focus: mining coal.

Former Massey miner Chuck Nelson,
for instance, said rock dusting was commonly done only at the end of
the shift — or after miners were warned that safety inspectors were on
site.

"They call and tell us to start hanging our curtains, start
cleaning the coal dust up, start rock-dusting the ribs — get everything
right because he’s on his way in there," Nelson said
in an interview from his West Virginia home earlier in the year. "But
as soon as they’re on their way outside — before they get outside —
these line curtains are jerked down again. They’re back to doing the
same old business as usual."

The official cause of April's UBB
disaster, which killed 29 miners, has yet to be identified. But based
on the sheer size of the blast, mine safety experts suspect that
ignited methane, combined with the presence of coal dust, is the
culprit.

Stricklin said Friday that more samples than 80 percent
would likely have failed MSHA's tests just before the blast, which
would have burned up much of the coal dust.

The details about the UBB's non-compliance with MSHA's coal dust standards were first reported Thursday by The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward Jr.